New blog post: FairScan can now be called from other apps
FairScan now exposes a simple intent so other Android apps can trigger a scan-to-PDF flow.
Users of ODKCollect and KoboCollect apps can already use it.
https://fairscan.org/blog/fairscan-can-now-be-called-from-other-apps/
@pynicolas hello there and thank you very much for adding this new feature!
Indeed, I can easily see the value of this and It would come in very handy for me if I could call #FairScan from within my #XMPP client of choice while I'm having a conversation with a colleague, a client or anyone else for that matter!
Do I need a particular Android version to use this feature?
I haven't been able to call it from the #Mastodon app #ConversationsIM nor #MonoclesChat so far.
@gnemmi @pynicolas "FairScan now defines its own intent" means the calling app (Conversations for instance) would have to explicitly support it.
So there would have to be an explicit 'Scan as PDF' button in Conversations like there is currently a 'Take picture' button.
Does this happen often that you want to scan a document and immediately send it?
@daniel
Yes, the calling app has to explicitly support the intent.
At the moment, it probably makes more sense for apps that already work with documents or PDFs, rather than messaging apps. In most cases, scanning is still a separate step before sharing.
That said, the intent is there if some apps find it useful in the future.
@daniel to the question "Does this happen often that you want to scan a document and immediately send it?", the real answer would be yes. But not in the context of an XMPP conversation. It just would have been a nice convenience feature to have if it was for free ( as in no need to implement it in your code ). Still, thank you a lot for your concern and interest on the needs of your client's users!
@daniel thank you for the explanation!.
I do have to scan documents on a daily basis as our legal system is 100% digital and all documents have to be uploaded as pdf files through the Judicial Power electronic portal. Having direct access to FairScan from within Conversations would've been a nice feature but not something that I'd depend on, as I've managed to do all my work without such a feature .. so, no, no real need to implement it. Still: thank you very much for your interest!
@daniel thank you for the explanation!.
I do have to scan documents on a daily basis as our legal system is 100% digital and all documents have to be uploaded as pdf files through the Judicial Power electronic portal. Having direct access to FairScan from within Conversations would've been a nice feature but not something that I'd depend on, as I've managed to do all my work without such a feature .. so, no, no real need to implement it. Still: thank you very much for your interest!
